First of all, Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you all have someone special to share the day with: a significant other or a best friend or your family. Have fun today! One of my friends asked me if I would do some high-heel shoe sugar cookies for an event she was in charge of & even though I hate cut-out sugar cookies for a reason (read why HERE) I said that would be fine. I wanted to try my hand at royal icing again because it has been like 7 months since I last tried it. These cookies weren’t that bad actually. The dough was easy to work with & it didn’t look awful re-rolled. They are actually quite soft & a perfect base for a sugar cookie. I tried a different royal icing this time, but it still made a TON of icing. Maybe third time is a charm & I will realize I need to like half the recipe, even if I am icing like 90 cookies.

Anyway, if you want a soft sugar cookie that holds it’s shape this is great. If you want to give royal icing a go, this recipe was super easy to whip up. I am still figuring out how to thin it (for different consistencies), and I think I am going to go buy clear plastic bottles next time & give that a go instead of my pastry bags. I think it might be easier & I won’t have icing pooping out the top of my bag (even when there is a rubber band on it.) Okay, enough talk…check out the cute shoes! I think they turned out fairly nice. Sadly, I hit my groove & picked up the pace on the last tray I was decorating, but now I know what works best & will give you my tips so you can have success!

Cut-Out Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Yield: 5 to 7 dozen cookies depending on size
4.67 from 6 ratings
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Ingredients

  • 5 ½ cups (660 g) all-purpose flour, (stir, spoon & level)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup (226 g) butter, softened
  • 2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 cup (240 g) sour cream
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, & salt. Set aside.
  • Cream butter & sugar until light & fluffy. Add sour cream, eggs & vanilla until combined. Scrape bowl.
  • Gradually add flour mixture until incorporated. Divide dough in half onto two pieces of plastic wrap; flatten dough, wrap tightly & refrigerate until chilled, 1-2 hours. (Tip: Dough may be made to this point & refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 month.)
  • Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
  • Generously flour work surface & rolling pin. Unwrap one of the chilled pieces of cookie dough, place on floured surface & sprinkle extra flour on top. Starting at the center, roll the dough out until about ¼” thick, sprinkling with additional flour if needed, to avoid sticking. Dip cookie cutter in flour & cut out dough shapes. Transfer cut-out cookies to baking sheets.
  • Bake 8-10 minutes until just done; before they brown on the bottom. Do NOT over-bake if you want a soft cookie. Allow cookies to cool on a baking rack. (Tip: cooled, unfrosted cookies, may be stacked in a sealed container & stored at room temperature for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 2 weeks.)

Notes

ROYAL ICING
  • 1 cup water
  • 6 Tbsp meringue powder
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract (use clear vanilla if you want white icing)
  • 2 lb bag of powdered sugar
  1. In a stand mixer, using the paddle attachment, mix the water & meringue powder until it is incorporated & slightly foamy.
  2. Add extracts & mix for a few seconds.
  3. Add the whole bag of powdered sugar. Mix on low until incorporated, then on high for a few minutes. It will become fairly stiff, & look smooth, glossy & leave peaks/ripples in the bowl where the paddle passes through the icing.
  4. Divide, thin & color icing as needed.
NOTE: *HALF this recipe if decorating the full recipe of cookies above. 
Author: Amber Brady
Recipe from The Yummy Life & re-written in my own words.

Royal Icing

*Use the icing AS-IS for piping, details, or words.

**Divide icing into separate bowls for different colors. COVER unused BOWL(s) with a damp dish towel while not in use. Mix in color until desired shade is achieved.

***Thin icing using 1 tsp of water at a time until desired consistency.

****Use clear pastry bags with rubber bands on the ends to help keep icing moist. Also, place unused pastry bags into a cup with a damp paper towel on the bottom to keep the tip from drying out when not in use.

Have fun decorating!

  • For these shoe cookies I used a Wilton #3 tip for the white, pink & purple. I had colored & thinned my purple & pink icing to help it spread, but not so thin it falls off the cookie (which it did a little if I got too close to the edge.)
  • I piped the border, did a zig-zag with the icing to fill in the cookie & used my finger to help spread the icing if it didn’t quite fill on it’s own. Technically I should have had two different bags for this part:
    • The icing as stiff as it is when it’s made (no thinning) for the edges
    • The thinner icing to fill the center
    • You may also use a toothpick to pop any bubbles that form. I did have a few bubbles in my icing that I didn’t catch.
  • Then I let the base colors (pink & purple) dry for an hour or so before I piped the white trim & bows with the icing AS-IS when it was first made.

Pretty simple, just a lot of cookies & I was using my toothpick to help spread the icing to fill in the gaps, but then I realized that was stupid & used my finger. LOTS faster. Then popped any air bubbles with the toothpick (do this before it dries, so only do a couple cookies at a time before moving on.)

Next time I wouldn’t be so lazy & I would use the white to pipe the edges & then thin the pink & purple enough to spread on it’s own without my finger. You live & learn right? But they still turned out cute so I am happy. 🙂

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